Cabinet door hinge

Abstract

Cabinet doors are supported by a hinge system that allows the doors to swing into an open space below the cabinet as they are opened. The hinge also reduces the room that must be provided in front of the cabinet to open the door. The door is mounted on hinge bars pivotally connected to a slide that rides on runners inside the cabinet. In the closed position, the bars rest on support pegs extending from the sides of the cabinet. As the door is moved forward, the hinge bars can pivot about the support pegs and the door can swing into the open space beneath the cabinet. Pivot pegs extend from each side of the cabinet in front of and below the support pegs, and the hinge bars contact the pivot pegs as the hinge bars pivot about the support pegs. The hinge bars then pivot about the pivot pegs, which control and limit the motion of the door as it moves into the fully open position.

We claim: 
     
       1. In a cabinet comprising top, bottom, side and rear walls and an open front, the bottom being supported above a floor surface so as to provide an open space beneath the bottom wall and a door for closing the open front, an improved hinge system for moving the door between a closed and an open position wherein the door in its open position is stored in the open space beneath the cabinet bottom wall, said hinge system comprising: (a) horizontal runners along each side wall adjacent the top thereof and extending substantially front to rear in said cabinet;   (b) a slide supported in said runners, said slide being adjacent said back wall when said door is in its closed position and adjacent the front of said cabinet when said door is in its full open position;   (c) a hinge bar having a first end pivotally connected to said slide and a second end fixed to said door adjacent the top thereof, said hinge bar extending substantially horizontally from said slide when said door is in its closed position and depending substantially vertically from said slide when said door is in its open position; and   (d) support means fixed to said side walls and providing substantially the sole support to maintain said hinge bar in a substantially horizontal orientation and said door in a closed position, said means being located at a point intermediate the ends of said hinge bar so as to become inoperative to support said bar in a horizontal orientation when said slide and the first end of said hinge bar are moved toward the open front of said cabinet and pass forward of said support means, thereby allowing said hinge bar to pivot downwardly to a substantially vertical position.   
     
     
       2. A cabinet as in claim 1 wherein said support means comprises a peg fixed to said side wall, said hinge bar resting on said peg and moving across said peg as said slide is moved towards the front of said cabinet to open said door. 
     
     
       3. A cabinet as set out in claim 1 wherein: (a) said peg is spaced below and forward of the first end of said hinge bar so as to support said hinge bar with a slight downward slant from said first end to said peg; and   (b) said hinge bar having its second end provided with an upwardly bent portion for attachment to the top of said door, said bent portion extending out through the open front of said cabinet when said hinge bar is in its vertical, door open position.   
     
     
       4. A hinge system according to claim 1 or 2 further comprising a pivot peg extending from the side of said cabinet in front of and below said support means, so that the hinge bar contacts the pivot peg and the door pivots about said pivot peg when said door is opened.